Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery in the Aftermath of Hurricane Irma: Exploring Whether Community-Level Mitigation Activities Make a Difference

Abstract

Scholars have argued that businesses benefit from communities adopting mitigation measures. However, no study has considered the extent to which community-level mitigation activities impact business continuity and disaster recovery efforts. Using data gathered from 25 semi-structured interviews with business owners (N=19) and local government staff (N=6), this study addresses this gap in research by examining business continuity and disaster recovery efforts following Hurricane Irma in relation to whether the business is located in a county that participates in FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) program. The CRS program is a federal voluntary program created in 1990 to incentivize communities to implement floodplain management activities that surpass the minimum required under the National Flood Insurance Program. In general, the findings indicate that businesses located in higher CRS-participating communities sustained less impact and recovered faster than businesses located in lower CRS-participating communities. Findings also show that business continuity and recovery from Hurricane Irma were hampered by dependence on other businesses and customers, stress and emotional reactions, financial considerations, personnel issues, contractor responsiveness, challenges with insurance companies, and supply-chain issues.